Thought I would try something different so cooked pork chops the other night.
I spent ages rubbing them with fresh sage and making a white wine and onion sauce.
They smelt and tasted very good but, the chops were so chewy!
Why do they go like that?
Am I cooking them wrong? Or buying bad chops?
Please help!
You over cooked them.
How did you cook them, in the sauce? Or did you grill/sear them before coating them with the sauce?
Curious.
Andrew :smile:
Seared them before cooking the sauce, took them out and set them aside and then put them back in at the end for 5 mins with the sauce.
Hmmm.
How thick were they?
Searing is good, maybe you didn't over cook them and just got some sinewy chops (it does happen).
Did you cook them to medium (still a little pink in the middle?). No need to cook pork until it's white all the way through these days.
What I would've done was sear them (as you did), and then put them in a low/slow oven set to 170 degrees whilst you made the sauce.
This allows the meat to relax and suck back up the juices. (When you sear any meat the muscle tightens up and all the juices go to the sides. Resting allow the muscle to relax and subsequently, the juices to go back towards the center, therefore making dem jooocie)
I would've not put them into the sauce and cooked them for the five minutes. (That might've been where they picked up some toughness).
Simply sear, relax in a slow oven for 5 minutes (or even a nice hot plate will work (do not cover the chops with foil to keep warm. Meat will continue to cook - and keep warm - even off of the heat source for quite a while after), and then nap with the sauce and put the remainder of the sauce in a bowl for your guests/family to serve themselves.
Andrew